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Orbital Bombardment
Rosette Nebula Your optics are dazzled by a splendid array of colors and swirling shapes as you plunge into the heart of the largest Nebula in charted space. You instantly begin to assign names to the shapes, that one looks like a petro-Rabbit, there's a familiar one...after a bit, some of the forms seem to be alive, gaseous organisms doing tricks for your mind. Or perhaps it is your mind that is playing these tricks. Impossible to tell, as sensor interference here is paramount. The tip of the Decepticon Warship tears through a colored swirl, forcibly imposing itself into the Rosette Nebula. As soon as it's large afted bulk is through and proceeding into Femax's area of space, it suddenly decelerates thrusters and hangs.. motionless, other than drift, in space. Pacing the command deck of the Hellbender, Cyclonus' arms are folded behind his back. A myriad of troops are milling about the area, running engine diagnostic reports and craft combat capabilities.. projected statistical outcomes, you know the drill. The Decepticon Overlord wears his constant scowl, heels clicking in rhythmic fashion as his pace quickens. When Femax comes into view on the screen, Cyclonus clicks to a stop. Leaning forward, over a command console and it's appointed technician, he clicks on the Hellbender's ship-wide PA system. "Decepticons, the time is now. Femax lies helpless before our grasp, proceed with Operation: Desolation." he monotonely speaks into the mic, hitting the neccesary control lock for the cargo bay's doors. "Do you think this wise, Cyclonus? Galvatron is lost!" a nearby Seeker questions, albeit timidly. Instead of addressing the nameless soldier, Cyclonus just raises his oxidizing laser.. pulling the trigger, releasing a wave of noxious energy. Reducing the Seeker to slag on the floor, the Overlord takes only one moment to comment on the situation. "Never question me." Boomslang stifles a snigger. He always hated that guy. Also, Boomslang owed him money. "Ready to attack, Lord Cyclonus!" he says eagerly, looking forward to coming back quickly from a successful mission and going through the dead guy's locker. Catechism adds, "Gonna lead the pack, gonna sock it to them! We'll be the last ones standing as another bites the dust." If anyone asks, she blames one of Soundwave's cassettes. Probably the little fairy psycho one. With a satisfied click of fingertips on the bomber's baffles and bay doors, Tweak announces, "It's as stuffed as it's gonna get! Good luck, Fusillade!" He quickly detaches several hoses from the craft, and scurries away. "Luck, nothing," Fusillade remarks, as the cargo bay's atmopheric shield snaps into place before the doors start peeling open. "Pitt, they're gonna have to PUSH me out," she rumbles, igniting thrusters in an afterburner-assisted lumber to the ship's exit. Mainframe says, "Woah, Decepticon Warship just jumped into the Rosette Nebula guys.. readings are off the charts!! Repugnus says, "Did somebody say, 'Victims?'" Fortress Maximus says, "The Rosetta Nebula? What's in that region of space?" Jetfire says, "No, he said Decepticons... though I suppose that's close enough" Mainframe says, "Systems say only one planet of note, Femax.. mean anything?" Jetfire says, "That the Decepticons are still pissed off about getting beat up by a giant female warrior at the Olympics?" Jetfire says, "They've had to be planning this for some time if Galvatron's disappearance didn't stop them...." Fortress Maximus says, "Yes, but that doesn't explain conclusively why they're there. I don't like the sound of this. This is a general summon to any available Autobots to get ready to disembark. Prepare the Steelhaven. We're going to find out what exactly is going on there." Repugnus says, "They're mad about that? Man, some places you gotta PAY to have a giant female beat on you." Jayson Redfield makes a gagging sound. Jetfire says, "Make haste, Maximus. I'll reundevu with you guys along the way" Decepticon Shuttle isn't on board the Decepticon warship, he's currently docked up with the under part of the hull. Maglocks hold the shuttle in place, a boarding tube joining him to the larger ship as he just goes along for the ride and enjoys the fact that he's not using any energy whatsoever. Though he is keeping track of what's going on inside, noting Cyclonus' actions and his words, and just snorting once to himself. It's nothing personal against Cyclonus of course. His name just doesn't end in 'tron. Fortress Maximus says, "Acknowledged, try to get us some intel ahead of time if you can but keep your safety as priority. We'll see you soon." Mainframe says, "Safety? You think I'm sticking -my- neck out there?" Repugnus says, "Bawk bawk bawk." Jayson Redfield says, "Man, I hate space...but you have EDC backup." Repugnus says, "Wellll. Good thing there's one Intel 'bot here who will do anything, anywhere, anytime. Just say the word." Fortress Maximus says, "Man your stations, the Steelhaven's leaving orbit." Several hundreds of kilometers away from orbit, a spherical spatial anomaly appears out of nowhere. It crackles with the typical sci-fi effects before the bow of a medium sized Autobot cruiser emerges from the anomaly and shortly the rest of the spaceship follows along through swiftly. It's the Autobot cruiser, Steelhaven, and it looks a little bit worst for wear despite having only re-entered military service a short two years ago. Inside the command deck of the bridge, Fortress Maximus is seated in the captain's chair with his elbow leaning on the right arm rest. Upon dropping out of FTL, the Headmaster leader immediately queries the crew on the bridge, "Sensors? What do we have out there?" He then looks over to other side of the command deck and issues another order, "Have shields and weapons on stand by." From Exo-Jet Apollo , James Bailey sits in his Exo in the hangar bay of the Steelhaven, ready to launch when the word is given. He runs through system checks, verifies the pressure seals on his flight suit, and then sits back, with nothing left to do but listen to radio chatter as they report the developing situation 'outside'. And James is not the only EDC soldier aboard the Steelhaven. Jayson is inside a borrowed Starknight, nervously trying not to look out one of the cruiser's windows at the open outer space. Is there a word for the fear of space? If there is, it sure would describe Jayson. But at least he's here, willing to face his fears. Nonetheless, he is sweating a little, and despite being hidden inside the exo, someone may notice his odd behavior. (Though anyone who knows him would be aware of his phobia.) The exos weren't the only one's waiting in the hanger. Having meet up with the Steelhaven before it made the FTL jump, Jetfire had opted to just park it there in his veritech mode instead of transforming and heading to the bridge with the others. Seeing as it's likely that he's going to be one of the first heading out there once they find out what the Decepticons are really poking their nosecones into out here. "We're ready to launch on your signal down here, Maximus." Got to love how these big ships tend to have an intercomm system hi-tech enough to just go both ways without pushing buttons or some other silly action that would only waste animation frames. Repugnus is certainly capable, but as far as morale goes? Not a good choice. He bolts to his feet, giving Fortress Maximus an exaggerated salute. "Aye aye mon Capitain!" he barks. "I shall take the sensor station, sir." Wait, was that 'sir' or 'cur?' Hard to tell, the way he pronounced it. "Oh, wait! I'm already there!" And he promptly flops back down onto his seat. Repugnus taps away at the console, humming. "Ooh, well, we definitely have Decepticons here. Big ol' Decepticon warship about... nyah." He points at the view mainscreen as the Hellbender pops up. "And I'm reading that... ooh, looks like they're opening their hatches up. Probably getting ready to deploy, if they haven't already." Turning around, only a slight "Hmrph." escapes Cyclonus' disgusted looking face. "Catechism, Boomslang.. I do believe you two are on escort detail." the Overlord gruffs to the two coneheads on deck. Suddenly, a ping goes off from one of the consoles. "Sir, main engine drive failure. Operational thrust at forty three percent and falling. Orders?" another nameless Seeker intones from his station. Only a moment of hesitation from Cyclonus, before a reply finally comes. "Keep to your stations, the assault goes forward as planned. I'll see to the fusion drive malfunction." Marching off towards the turbo-lift, he turns around and adds with all the loyal gusto he can manage. "All hail Galvatron!" Decepticon Shuttle 's sensors certainly pick up the entry of the Steelhaven into the system. How could anything -not- catch that kind of grand arrival? Still locked in place, docked with the underside of the Decepticon warship, he starts to warm up some of his weapons systems in preparation. "Looks like we got some uninvited company!" With an awkward tumble out of the bay, Fusillade trims the microrockets mounted on her nosecone, and rolls to fly around the Hellbender's bulk. As she pours more accelerant to her main engines, she slips past Astrotrain, close enough to set off proximity alarms. <> she razzes the triplechanger on local radio. The jade disc of the richly vegetated jungle world of Femax bobs into view. <> Catechism bails out a hatch and transforms, off to do her assigned duty of escorting Fusillade and keeping the Autobots away from her. She keeps herself nice and obvious to the Steelhaven, seeking to draw its attention. If she goes down, the mission can still go on. If Fusillade goes down, it's a wash. Catechism transforms to her jet mode, which is quite astoundingly simple for the coneheaded model that she is. Combat: F-35B "Lightning II" sets her defense level to Fearless. Boomslang activates his solar distortion engine and stalks off irritably towards the elevator to the dorsal spine of the ship. "I'm not really equipped for space engagements, but I can feed you targeting data. I'm going up to the dorsal airlock." Meanwhile in space, the Steelhaven's manuevering thrusters begins to alter the course of the Autobot cruiser towards the direction of Femax. Inside the command deck, Fortress Maximus rubs the ridges on top of his forehead in response to Repugnus' comments as hints of headache begins to manifest itself. Eventually he hears the dreaded report from Repugnus of the presence of the Hellbender, a name that he is very weary to hear about. "Can you identify what's coming out of that warship, Repugnus? Jetfire and the EDC soliders will need all the information they can get." Having said that, Fortress Maximus then leans towards the other arm rest on his chair as he issues more orders to the bridge crew, "Steady the ship towards Femax, and alert all space faring combat units in the hangar bay to prepare for launch." Finally he points a big blue finger at the viewscreen, "Power up weapons for now, and raise shields once Jetfire and his team has launched. Raise alert levels to status 1!" The bridge crews responds quickly to the orders issued by Fortress Maximus. A gumby bridge crew begins opening the Steelhaven's hangar bay doors and extending the equipments for assisted launch before speaking into the ship's intercom, "Attention Jetfire, Jayson, James, please prepare for launch. There is a Decepticon warship within the vicinity, expect escorts." Fortress Maximus says, "Repugnus reports the Decepticon warship is preparing to deploy something, Jetfire. We don't know what it is they're deploying, but there are several other confirmed hostile contact on sensors. Stay sharp. We still don't know what exactly they're here for, but knowing the Decepticons it's never anything good." Repugnus frowns as he looks over the data. "Looks like we got a Decepticon designated 'Fusillade' being escorted off the ship by another 'con designated 'Catechism.' Wait, are they both femmebots? NEAT. Hope I get to meet 'em. Oh, uh, we got another guy powering his systems up on the bottom of the ship. I don't have a clear line of sight to him, but he looks big. Hrm. Also, looks like their dorsal hatch is opening..." He blinks. "That's odd, nothing came out. Well. Maybe somebody hit a button by accident." "Wonderful, sounds like they've brought out the big guns." Yes, that's an entirely sarcastic tone he's speaking with, punctuated by the rumble as he fires his engines back up to flight power levels. "Keep us posted up there guys, we'll see if we can't shake them up a bit." Rolling back towards the launch bay, Jetfire waits for the doors to open before pushing the throttle up, the plumes spraying from his engines turning white hot as they fling the space-fighter out of the opening. Meanwhile assorted screens and gauges start glowing within the cockpit as assorted weapons and tactical systems are on-line. The air guardian takes a somewhat wide banking approaching once he's clear of the Steelhaven, keeping a wary guard up as he tries to get a better bead on just who or what they're dealing with out here... Combat: Veritech Spacefighter sets his defense level to Guarded. Jetfire would frown if he was in robot mode. "Fusillade is a bomber.. if they're escorting her it most definately is not good." Jayson Redfield says, "Did I ever mention how much I hate Fusillade?" Jetfire says, ".. The fat-aft under the warship is Astrotrain." Repugnus says, "Astro... oh! I remember that guy. A little." Jetfire says, "That they're not using -him- to carry them all here worries me more than." Repugnus sings a little. "First he's a train. Then he's a space plane. Ba dump bump! He's Astrotrain!" Exo-Jet Apollo Jet is next out of the launch bay, firing enginges to clear the way for other allied forces to emerge, and then forming up near Jetfire. Inside, James takes a quick look back to make sure Jayson is still with them. Then something over the tac-com catches his interest, and his head swivels around to study tactical screens. He taps a few keys and then a tiny circle appears around Astrotrain's image, with the designation 'Target A' "Here goes," Jayson mumbles. He takes a deep breath and pilots the Starknight after James and Jetfire, promptly launching after them. Jayson tries to ignore the fact that he is now in open space, meaning there is nothing underneath his exo's feet. Sure, there's no risk of *falling* like this, but it's still enough to make him scared. He does not complain, however, as much as he wants to. Jetfire says, "I'm coming around, I'll try to cut off Catechism and Fusillade. James, Jayson, stay sharp out here." As slow as the Hellbender is moving, the Decepticon party consisting of Fusillade, Catechism, and Astrotrain(?) quickly widens the gap as they cruise toward the planet below. <> The radio chatter about arriving Autobot spaceships and squads worries her, but she holds her course surprisingly steady, as if ignoring the problem looming behind her. Fortress Maximus says, "You're right, Jetfire. This looks like a classic planetary bombardment manuever, and until we can determine otherwise, we'll respond accordingly to counter one. You three do your best to neutralize their ability to bombard the planet, we'll move the Steelhaven in between you and the Hellbender to prevent their covering fire." "Yeah yeah, I'm going already!" Astrotrain grouses a bit as Fusillade gets a little too close for comfort, but then keeps going. And of course, hearing her complaints on the radio draws a bit more sass from him for good measure. "Whatsamatter, Fusi? SInce when ya ever been afraid of a little explosives!?" A few white jets of exhaust kick off into space as he detached from the underside of the Decepticon warship, his thrusters glowing brilliant orange as they start to propel him forward at an almost lazy pace as he rolls over and loops around the Hellbender. Does he join up with Fusillade and the others? No. Like he told them on the radio. He has an 'idea'. "Okay Autoscraps! Here's mud in yer eyes!" A brilliant white light ignites behind him, then the shuttle abruptly SLAMS forward in acceleration, away from the other Decepticons, going Head to Head towards the EDC fighters and Jetfire's approach. It looks like he's planning to go for them singlehandedly! ...or not, as he proceeds to rocket right -past- them, heading straight for the Steelhaven. "Heeyah hah hah, ready or not, HERE I COME!" Jetfire says, ".. The hell? Astrotrain just shot past us without a shot..." Jayson Redfield says, "I think he thinks he can take on the Steelhaven." Fortress Maximus says, "Repugnus, what's his estimated trajectory?" Repugnus says, "Er... right at our faces!" Fortress Maximus says, "...defensive batteries, open fire!" Repugnus says, "Waaait a minute. Waait a minute. He isn't just heading at us. He's heading for the hanger. Ohhohoho. Can we let him on board? Please?" Fortress Maximus says, "Did you cross your circuits somewhere while on vacation, Repugnus?! Of course not!" Repugnus says, "Hey, I'm just saying, we can kill this guy a *lot* easier when he's not in space. Just sayin'." Jetfire says, "I'd suggest making anti-boarding precautions, we don't need a repeat of the Pax incident!... though" Jetfire says, "If you -trap- him in the hanger..." F-35B "Lightning II" takes a pot shot at Jetfire. It would be more appropriate if Fusillade did, but the poor woman's laden with a really creepy bomb of doom, and it wouldn't do to let Jetfire get Fusillade exploded... again. Combat: F-35B "Lightning II" misses Veritech Spacefighter with her Zap! (Disruptor) attack! Fortress Maximus says, "That's -a- plan. Repugnus, can you make it so?" Kup says, "If you all crash and die and come back to life as Pokemon trainers, I'm disavowing the lot of you." Jetfire says, "... What?" Jayson Redfield snort-giggles. Repugnus just grins from audial sensor to audial sensor as he ascertains Astrotrain's course. "Heeheeeheee! Uh, volunteering for anti-boarding operations!" he says after entering some commands into the console. Then, without asking or anything, he leaps out of his seat and heads for the hangar bay. "Be right back, heeheehee!" Repugnus says, "Uh, yeah, I set the doors in the hangar bay so you can go into the hangar bay, but not out. It's a cockroach motel!" Rodimus Prime says, "C'mon, old man. We all know you secretly wish you were a Targetmaster." Kup says, "What!? Never!" Jayson Redfield says, "Kup would make an awesome Targetmaster." Kup says, "Now maybe /you/ wish you had a transforming photon eliminator, son." Rodimus Prime says, "Nooot a good idea. I seem to go through those too quickly." "Incoming fire!" Jetfire barks as Catechism's fire lights up his tactical screen, though its mostly as a warning to the exos following him as he easily does a lateral spin to evade the fire himself. Sure his bulk was more than the two jet-cons, but it was also made for space-bound maneuvers in comparison. As he rolls out of the spin steering thrusters fire, the momentary thrust enough to stop his rotary motion and bring him back in align with the two fighters headed towards the planet. "Sorry ladies, but your little roadtrip is going to have to come to a stop." The vulcans on either side of his cockpit open fire, peppering a volley of small energy blasts after them. Combat: Veritech Spacefighter misses F-35B "Lightning II" with his Vulcan Gun Volley Area attack! -4 Combat: Veritech Spacefighter strikes Space-Going B-1R Lancer with his Vulcan Gun Volley Area attack! -4 Jayson Redfield says, "I want a transforming gun!" Kup says, "But I ain't into this new age binary bonding hogwash - and maybe you'd take better care of your damn gun if it was a little man!" Loadout coughs. Exo-Jet Apollo Jet rushes to meet Astrotrain, but then breaks formation and swerves aside belatedly as Astrotrain streaks right past. A moment later, it fires maneuvering jets in brief bursts to resume it's original course - directly towards the other Decepticons. <> James says grimly over allied frequencies. <> Combat: Exo-Jet Apollo analyzes Catechism for weaknesses Jetfire can exploit. Kup says, "See, you haven't blown up Loadout yet, lad." Repugnus says, "Can I get a little man, too? I want iiiit." Rodimus Prime says, "... No, Repugnus. No little men for you." Repugnus says, "Awww." Jayson Redfield sounds like he's about to say something, then decides against it. From Exo-Suit Starknight , Jayson Redfield blinks as Astrotrain rockets right past him and heads for the Steelhaven. He listens to the chatter on the Autobot frequency, decides the Autobots themselves can handle it, and focuses on the two Decepticon femmes. Fusillade, specifically. He speeds in that direction (though he doubts he's fast enough to catch up to the bomber), and at one point he comes to an abrupt stop, aiming a laser gun and firing. Combat: Exo-Suit Starknight strikes Space-Going B-1R Lancer with its Medium Laser attack! Boomslang meanwhile has set up his rifle on its tripod in the evacuated dorsal airlock. He's not using it to shoot Autobots- at least, not yet. Not that a magnetic driver isn't capable of it in space combat, if your eye is sharp and you lead precisely. He has other duties in mind. He flicks on the infrared spotting laser and puts his eye to the scope, targeting one of the many swirling specks of light out in the space battle- through the magnification of the oil lens it's Jetfire, the Great White Hype himself. Boomslang sneers to himself and holds the beam on Jetfire to give Catechism's weaponry something to lock onto. Combat: Boomslang analyzes Jetfire for weaknesses Catechism can exploit. F-35B "Lightning II" fails in drawing the aggro, instinctively dodging the shots that go her way even while the one she is suppsoed to be protecting is injured. Jeez, how do Autobots like Cliffjumper handle this whole bodyguard thing? Self-interest is just too strong a trait in Decepticons! So she tries harder to get their attention, not noticing the one looking for her weaknesses, opening with a spray of lasers and a general band heckling call of, //Hey hey, space looooosers! What the smelt do you care about this wretched planet?// Hopefully, Boomslang's data will serve her well. Combat: F-35B "Lightning II" strikes Veritech Spacefighter with her Full-Auto Area attack! Combat: F-35B "Lightning II" strikes Exo-Suit Starknight with her Full-Auto Area attack! Decepticon Shuttle picks up more and more speed as he hurtles down towards the Steelhaven, banking left, then right as a few brilliant laserbursts ignite around him, exploding in close proximety like a dizzying 'flak' barrage. For all his size, Astrotrain is shockingly nimble in space, and a damnably hard target to hit when he's in his element of the vacuum. After pulling into a full roll, he angles downwards a bit, pointing straight towards the open hangar bay. Astrotrain has a plan, the Autobots also have a plan...so the question is, who's plan will survive the initial head-on collision that's coming? Literally speaking, it's a perfect description in fact. Blazing across the last distance like a runaway comet, the triplechanger zeroes in directly on the open hangar bay, one last blast from his thrusters putting him to dizzying speeds before he does what he's really good at doing. The unpredictable. With a sudden clacking of parts and transformation, he spins about and changes into his locomotive form. An airborne locomotive, hurtling at dizzying speeds right into the open hangar bay of the Steelhaven, touching down on the metal deck with a shower of sparks. He doesn't care about things like boundaries, bulkheads, armored hatches...or even entire -walls-. He doesn't have any care for attempts to contain him, his armored ram prow glinting as he proceeds to hit the farthest wall of the hangar bay at FULL SPEED, smashing into it and looking to go right on through into the adjoining hallway interior with all the destructive force of a runaway space train. Armor locks in place, parts shift and Astrotrain transforms into a huge armored train! As Jetfire intercepts, Fusillade grunts as she takes considerable damage to her left wing and engine nacelles from the combination of Autobot and EDC attack, straining to reach a stable low orbit zone. <> Muttering to herself, "Might as well be out here by myself," she awkwardly twists about, and strafes the exo-suit with her laser weaponry. Combat: Space-Going B-1R Lancer sets her defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Space-Going B-1R Lancer strikes Exo-Suit Starknight with her Nose-Mounted Laser (Laser) attack! From the Hellbender's cargo bay, bursts a purple craft of terrifying velocity. Building and building with no end in sight, Cyclonus' starfighter mode streaks through the area.. deploying no less than five or six incendiary bombs, at -any- target making itself a nuisance to the Decepticon lancer. <> the Overlord broadcasts, about to add Astrotrain's name into the orders.. but decides against it. That one is better off left to his own devices. Cyclonus transforms into his Starfighter mode, Galvatron must need a ride somewhere. Combat: Starfighter sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Starfighter strikes Exo-Suit Starknight with his Lancer Retalliation Area attack! -6 Combat: Starfighter misses Veritech Spacefighter with his Lancer Retalliation Area attack! -6 Jetfire says, "Oh slag and a half, Cyclonus is with them" Repugnus says, "Psycone-us?" Kup says, "More of a cyclone thing, lad." Jayson Redfield says, "Ol' Bunny Ears? Well that sucks." Jetfire says, "Keep hounding the planet-bound fighters... I'll do something about Cyclonus." It turns out that Astrotrain does not have the hangar bay to himself, however! A yellow and orange Autobot flings himself into the hangar bay from the adjoining corridor, arms wide. "IIIIII'm here! C'mere, Astro...train?" Repugnus frowns as the triple-changer just smashes his way out of the room. "Ah, don't be like that. I haven't seen you in CENTURIES. And you know... I got a lotta catching up to do!" And so the Monsterbot runs after Astrotrain, grinning like a loon as he fires his laser rifle after him. "Come on, man, wait up! Hehehehe!" Repugnus says, "He's a bunny and he makes cyclones? What'll they think of next!" "They have nothing to do with our war and here you are disrupting the peace, that's all the reason we need," Jetfire retorts back. Though the valiant comeback does nothing to prevent the return fire, even as he tries to break away the sneaky help from Boomsland allows the other fighter to land some solid hits along the connection points in his lower fusilage. The maunevering is still in time to avoid the retaliating bombardment from Cyclonus hitting the scene though, several firebombs whistling by too close for comfort. "Shouldn't you be looking for your little lost leader, anyways?" As he finishes the loop-over Jetfire brings out some of his bigger guns, firing beams at both Catechism and Cyclonus to try and draw them off the escort. Combat: Veritech Spacefighter strikes Starfighter with his Particle-Beam Cannons Area attack! -2 Combat: Veritech Spacefighter misses F-35B "Lightning II" with his Particle-Beam Cannons Area attack! -2 In the dead of space, three plumes of engine fire can be seen launching from the Steelhaven's hangar bay. Once all three have cleared away the extended launch pad retracts back into the interior recesses of its hangar bay, but the hangar doors remains open for some unexplained reason. Within the dimmed command deck, the gentle glow of the ever plentiful consoles seeded around the bridge manages to maintain a functional amount of illumination inside for the crew to operate. Why was the bridge even dimmed in the first place? Obviously it's for dramatic effect! Fortress Maximus, his own body frame painted by the light emitting from consoles nearby, continues to calmly issue orders to each and every crew members, "Helm, put us in between our own forces and the Hellbender, we're already short on numbers here and we can't afford to have any more shot out for under us." There's a slight shudder as the Steelhaven lurches about and alters course. Fortress Maximus looks over to Repugnus and nods grimly as he hears the report on Astrotrain's projected trajectory, "Tactical, I want our point defense systems firing everything we've got at Astrotrain. We're trapping a juggernaut in our hanger bay, and I want him as thoroughly weakened as possible if he does make it inside." Once again he follows up with a secondary order, "Prepare to broadside the Hellbender and the Decepticon Seekers, place your shots wisely." Under the flurry of orders given, the Steelhaven cruises ahead with its weapons batteries lighting up its immediate vicinity as point-defense laser batteries are dramatically fired at Astrotrain, though futilely in the end, and the Decepticon Seekers. Meanwhile the Steelhaven's main plasma turret begins launching salvo after salvo of white plasma fire at the Hellbender, albit with the accuracy of a near-sighted Stormtrooper no less. The groan of the Steelhaven's hull and the reveberating crash of metal hull prompts a response from Fortress Maximus, "The trap's been sprung, now to hope it doesn't backfire on us. We'll have to do everything we can to tie up as much of their escort as possible." The Headmaster leader gives the departing Repugnus a grim look, "I hope he's capable of tying up that brute." Combat: Autobot Heavy Cruiser sets its defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Autobot Heavy Cruiser strikes F-35B "Lightning II" with its Point-Defense Lasers Area attack! -4 Combat: Autobot Heavy Cruiser misses Starfighter with its Point-Defense Lasers Area attack! -4 <> Jayson retorts to Fusillade, <> Before he can fire again, Catechism's lasers pepper the Starknight, and Jayson barely winces, even as Fusillade's retaliatory laser hits the exo in the shoulder. And then he's hit with a bomb or two from Cyclonus. Again, he doesn't even flinch. He's used to being injured on the job, after all. Pain is familiar to him, especially if he's only going to get some bruises, which seems to be the case now. To Catechism, he states, <> The Starknight turns back to Fusillade, but refrains from firing again. <> One can't be certain that it's an empty threat. From Exo-Jet Apollo , James Bailey grimaces as Jayson's Exo gets lit up by enemy fire from multiple directions. "Cyclonus," he says, eying the ID signature displayed on a small side-screen. "This just keeps getting better." He jams his throttle forward, sending the Exo blasting after the Decepticon starfighter to take some of the heat off of the junior EDC officer. Combat: Exo-Jet Apollo Jet strikes Starfighter with its Laser attack! With the drive complications.. taken care of, the Hellbender slowly regains it's mobility and puts thrusters at full. The engine crew did their best to slap a momentary fix on the problem, Cyclonus himself behind them adding to the pressure of the situation. Meanwhile, on the bridge of the craft.. the pilots and technicians are in a mad dash of chaos. Targeting solutions are brought up on the front viewscreen, zeroing in on the aiming vectors that will allow for a straight shot.. inflicting the most pain. <> broadcasts over the ship's PA, lights growing dim for a moment while the four points in front of the ship light up with charged plasma. Arcing down in front of the Warship, they form a solid blast of light.. that streaks out towards Jetfire.. and the Autobot dropship! Combat: Decepticon Heavy Warship Hellbender strikes Veritech Spacefighter with its Quad-Beam! Area attack! -1 Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Veritech Spacefighter 's Agility. (Crippled) Combat: Decepticon Heavy Warship Hellbender misses Autobot Heavy Cruiser with its Quad-Beam! Area attack! -1 Boomslang touches the radio control panel on the side of his cone, sending a warning to the other Decepticons from his hidden vantage point inside the Absolution's dorsal airlock. //Watch out for that star cruiser coming in, I'm sure it's in pursuit of Fusillade but it won't hesitate to blast whoever comes in range of its guns!// Keeping Jetfire in his sights, Boomslang maintains the target lock with deft twitches of his wrists. Combat: Boomslang analyzes Jetfire for weaknesses Catechism can exploit. Astrotrain goes through the first wall, into the adjoining hallway and smashes into the next wall beyond, half burying into it in the process before his momentum runs out and he sits there, stuck in place for a moment, as well as trying to get the cobwebs out of his mind after that dizzying ride. "Hooowhee!" Right about then, a few laser blasts lance against his aft section, a few glancing off, a couple scoring his armor with slightly blackened marks. It's enough to get his attention, suffice it to say. A few more futile efforts to pull himself free, and he just transforms, rising up out of the half-hole in the far wall as he turns about to face his attacker. Repugnus gets an odd look, a narrowing of optics. "Should I -know- you?" He asks, trying to rack his memory, but coming up short. Course in the heat of combat that's hardly surprising, and really there's only one thing that matters to him. "AHhhh who cares! Autobots get the same treatment all the way, c'mere you!" Cackling gleefully, he suddenly lunges forward, lashing out with one huge fist right at the middle of Repugnus' face. He's not just looking to punch him, he's looking to punch him right THROUGH the wall. He has no intention of limiting this fight just to the hangar bay afterall. A silent murmur of thanks escapes Fusillade as Cyclonus and Catechism vigorously announce their presence to the Autobot and EDC interlopers. Astrotrain is out of sight, and there's a good chance his boarding adventure will be dismissed as a tall tale -- if they all get through the mission alive. Now that she has some breathing room, Fusillade orients herself, seeking visual landmarks that correlate with the coordinates given to her. A tropical depression churns far below, and she scans the coast, before tracking east through the temperate, Endor-like rainforest that marches upward the mountain slopes. <> As the human yips and snaps at her audial heels, the bomber begins chortling, the sound rolling about resonantly inside her cabin. <> The laughter continues, crescendoing into a mocking guffaw as the bomber aligns her belly with the jungle planet below. Combat: Space-Going B-1R Lancer sets her defense level to Protected. Combat: Space-Going B-1R Lancer takes extra time to steady herself. Pass F-35B "Lightning II" evades Jetfire but does indeed get shot by the Steelhaven, and she vents fuel, the droplets forming spheres as they float away from her, until the wound self-seals. <> She drops something out of her much more modest bomb bay and speeds away. XF-35B Astral Lightning transforms into robot form. Catechism's feet unfold, her arms unfold out of her body, her nosecone rotates through her body and ends up on her shoulders to expose her face, and her wings rotate into position. Combat: Catechism has created a bomb: "Bwee-WOM!"! Combat: Catechism strikes Veritech Spacefighter with Bwee-WOM!'s Huge Explosion #10135 Area attack! Combat: Veritech Spacefighter falls to the ground, unconscious. Combat: Catechism misses Autobot Heavy Cruiser with Bwee-WOM!'s Huge Explosion #10135 Area attack! Having landed one blow out of two targets, Cyclonus is still seething in anger as Jetfire's and James' assaults are felt off the top hull. Even though the Veritech fighter inflicted the most harm, the Decepticon is more taken aback by Bailey's open defiance and attack. <> Pulling upwards, the Starfighter angles back down towards the Apollo and races past.. aiming a wingtip at the exo suit's shoulder junction. Combat: Starfighter sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Starfighter misses Exo-Jet Apollo Jet with his Wing-Slice! attack! -3 <> Jayson declares to Catechism. <> He snorts. <> Without another word, he speeds the Starknight forward and attempts to latch it onto the bomber. If done right, maybe he'll prevent the bomb she's carrying from being dropped...at the risk of his own life, of course. No one ever accused Jayson of being a coward. Combat: Exo-Suit Starknight misses Space-Going B-1R Lancer with its Grab attack! Repugnus is still bounding after Astrotrain right up until the point where he stops, grinning all the way. He's still grinning when Astrotrain transforms, and continues to grin as Astrotrain's beefy fist heads towards his face. It does not seem as if Repugnus is making any effort to dodge whatsoever as the fist smashes into his mug, and the force of the blow smashes him through a wall. However, Repugnus is up and back in through the hole in the wall, still grinning. "The name's REPUGNUS," the Monsterbot says. "I'm the best at what I do..." Repugnus then transforms into his horrific bug mode, his claws snapping out! "..and what I do ain't very nice! Now c'mere, you! GIVE ME A HUG. Heeheeheeheehee! NRRAAAAAAHHHHH!!!" And he springs at the triplechanger, claws extended and prepared to bury themselves into his enemy's hide! Exo-Jet Apollo Jet rolls to the left, leaving Cyclonus to blast through the space it had just been occupying, then continues the roll to dive after the larger vehicle. <> he murmurs back over open frequencies, infusing his voice with the self-assuredness bordering on arrogance. Then he thumbs the comm control on his HOTAS, switching to another channel. <> His voice is a lot more frantic now, showing the strain of high-g maneuvering. Finally he squeezes off another few shots, sending a pair of missiles off towards Cyclonus' engines. Combat: Exo-Jet Apollo Jet misses Starfighter with its Space-to-Space Missiles attack! Repugnus says, "I have the intruder firmly *hugged.*" Impactor says, "What in tha glitchin' system did I wake up ta?" Even for someone experienced in spacebound combat, that the Hellbender suddenly comes back to motion is enough to even catch Jetfire off guard, it's sweeping barrage with it's attack tearing across one side of the air guardian's fusilade, blowing out several of his lateral veniers. Which unfortunately leaves him a sitting duck for the bombs... at least he knows enough science to not question how something like that even works in space... not that he has a chance to, as the resulting explosion sends the spacefighter hurtling haphazardly across the starry scape. Jetfire says, "NNGGGGGGH" Repugnus says, "Huh. Impac-tor... hrmmm. Do I know you?... Gosh, I was on vacation for *so* long." Jetfire hiss. "Don't worry.. me... hold them back!" And finally crackles into silence. Noah Wolfe says, "Why does Jetfire sound like a dinobot?" Impactor says, "Nope, and what in tha name of Primus are ya doin'.. huggin' em ta death?" Arcee says, "Jetfire! Hold on out there!" Jayson Redfield says, "'Cause he just got blasted, Noah!" Noah Wolfe says, "Oh...I wonder what's on TV...*click*..." Repugnus sounds sheepish. "I'm very affectionate." Jayson Redfield says, "...Wow. You sure do show a lot of concern, Wolfe." The ambient lighting in the Rosetta Nebula causes the Hellbender to cast a dark silhouette over the Steelhaven and the plasma fire that fails to make its mark on the Decepticon warship only serves to awaken the beast! Soon a loud beep begins to scream on one of the Steelhaven's tactical control console, prompting the crew member in control of it to cry out a report over to its skipper, "F-fortress Maximus! The Hellbender's weapons are powering up and it's targetting us!" Fortress Maximus swings his view over to the crew member in question and quickly responds with a corresponding order, "Reinforce starboard shields, adjust roll by 90 degrees, raise pitch by 10 degrees! We're going to absorb this one!" Another crew member manning the sensors cries out, "Subspace detonation to our port side! We're just out of its range, but Jetfire's been caught in it, sir!" The Headmaster leader looks down at the data being displayed on the captain chair's armrests, nods grimly and waves a hand over to other crewmembers manning the defensive batteries, "I want you to direct every point-defense laser batteries that we've got with a firing solutions on those Decepticons, and point the rest that don't on the Hellbender!" He then pushes a button on the intercom, "Prep the medical bay, we're going to have heavily injured personnels once this is over." The Steelhaven's interior hull continues to reverbrates as a result of Astrotrain and Repugnus' brawl. Fortress Maximus frowns, but Repugnus' seemingly positive comments seems to have put him at ease, perhaps falsely so! Dun dun duuuun! Combat: Autobot Heavy Cruiser strikes Catechism with its Point-Defense Lasers Area attack! -2 Combat: Autobot Heavy Cruiser strikes Starfighter with its Point-Defense Lasers Area attack! -2 Combat: Autobot Heavy Cruiser strikes Decepticon Heavy Warship Hellbender with its Point-Defense Lasers Area attack! -2 Well okay, admittedly the last thing Astrotrain expected to see his opponent for this evening turn into is a freaky looking...bug...thing. "What the frag are you supposed to b...BWARGH!" As Repugnus leaps upon him, claws digging in, the triplechanger lurches backwards, crashing onto the floor in the middle of the hallway as he's body tackled and hugged in the process. OH THE HUMANITY! "Gyaargh, you know..." the triplechanger snarls, grappling to try and get his arms free in the process. "It's bad enough I gotta put up with Tentakil always tryin to get all huggy-friendly." He finally gets his arms free, moving them under Repugnus' body and physically lifting the Monsterbot into the air...and still going up as his anti-gravs kick in, sending him crashing UP and through the ceiling above into the next level! A few gumby technicians are no doubt sent scattering in all directions as the grappling pair emerge onto the next deck, Astrotrain twisting at the hip and showing a startling display of brute force as he hurls Repugnus at what looks like a power relay module of some sort. Glowing brightly and dangerously with energy coursing through it. "But if you wanna get up close and personal, I'm all for it!" The seismic mine detonates, rocking the bomber. <> Fusillade ignites her main burners, sliding her forward of Jayson's lunge. <> the Lancer roars, as her main weapons store, and her forward stores, blow structural bolts, opening up her entire underbelly like a filetted fish. A distressingly large munition, replete with thrusters, fins, and a sickly glowing green window on its side, punches free of the space bomber, and sails downward to the jewel green slopes of Cathedral Peak. <> Once free of its mass, Fusillade snaps her bomb bay doors shut, whipcrack fast now that she is freed of her rapidly descending burden, her argon laser systems winding up again before capacitors discharge, filling the space around the exo-suit with bolts of intense amethyst destruction. <> Combat: Space-Going B-1R Lancer sets her defense level to Fearless. Combat: Space-Going B-1R Lancer misses Exo-Suit Starknight with her Nose-Mounted Laser (Laser) attack! //I can confirm the kill, it's good,// Boomslang sends to Catechism over the radio. //I've got an eye on the other track harassing Golden Goose. It's grabbing all over her. I'm taking the shot.// Boomslang dials in the range from the Absolution to the Starknight glomming on Fusillade and sets the trajectory flat- no gravity means no bullet drop. Glancing at the projected path overlay, Boomslang settles his shoulder to the stock and squeezes off a single shot, a silent two-pound slug of iron-jacketed tungsten streaking out from the Absolution's dorsal airlock towards Jayson's fragile little craft. Combat: Suddenly, Boomslang appears out of fat air! Combat: Sneak Attack!! Combat: Boomslang strikes Exo-Suit Starknight with his Coil Driver attack! The quad-beam lanced out, scoring a direct hit on the Veritech fighter.. but somehow missing the Steelhaven? Perhaps Jetfire threw himself to take the brunt of the assault, we'll never know.. now will we? The technicians, with no real leader, squabble and panic ensues. The Hellbender reacts in kind, a slight descent downwards as the Steelhaven's lasers scorch up it's hull. <> one Seeker yelps into the PA system, while the others fight over what they will or won't do. In the meantime, someone has the gull to target the Steelhaven with a direct assault. Combat: Decepticon Heavy Warship Hellbender sets its defense level to Fearless. Combat: Decepticon Heavy Warship Hellbender misses Autobot Heavy Cruiser with its Main Munitions.. Away! attack! -2 //Get in its way!// Boomslang transmits back, looking up from the scope to return the call. //Put Goose in our shadow so the enemy cruiser can't target her!// <> Catechism observes witheringly as the human tries to imitate a Goblin parasite fighter in all its disgusting glory. For her iniquity, the Steelhaven smites her, sending more fuel droplets flying through space. After consulting with Fusillade, she has her orders - protect the bomb, not Fusillade. <> With Boomslang and Fusillade handling the one human, and the Hellbender firing on the Steelhaven, she opens fire on the other human, sending a generic space missile after him. Catechism transforms to her jet mode, which is quite astoundingly simple for the coneheaded model that she is. Combat: F-35B "Lightning II" strikes Exo-Jet Apollo Jet with her Generic Space Missile attack! -2 Deploying plasma based flares and some last second manuevering, Cyclonus is able to shake the twin projectiles. Refocusing his assault on the Apollo exo suit, the Starfighter arcs upwards and comes down to bear on James Bailey. Suddenly a generic space missile streaks past, landing a direct hit on the human. <> Having to avoid his plan of action, Cyclonus can only manage to fire off some small arms laser fire before changing trajectories. Combat: Starfighter strikes Exo-Jet Apollo Jet with his Space Pewpew! (Laser) attack! Jayson Redfield says, "OH HELL!" Noah Wolfe says, "Language young man!" Repugnus is smashed into the upper level, then hurled off of Astrotrain and right into the console, which simply explodes into a shower of sparks and electrical smoke. A blast of fire extinguisher spray also douses the console, making it even harder to see the aftermath of what had to be a devastating blow. "HEE HEE HEE" Two big, glowing green eyes appear in the smoke and particles. "HEE HEE HEE" Repugnus steps out of the smoke, grinning like he loves it... because he *does.* "HEE HEE HEE... RAAAHHHH!" And finally, Repugnus lunges at Astrotrain, opening that horrible, needle-fanged mouth in preparation to bite Astrotrain's nose off! Meanwhile, a gumby points at Repugnus, jaw open, and asks aloud, "Is... is that an *Autobot?*" Jayson Redfield says, "Oh just shut up! Fusillade the Bitch just dropped the goddamned bomb!" Sandstorm says, "Geez." Sandstorm says, "He just said hell." Impactor says, "Say it.. don't spray it." Sandstorm says, "I could do much, much worse." Repugnus says, "Ooh. Damn. Uh. There isn't anybody we like down there, is there?" Impactor says, "Has -anyone- opened up communication with Barkida?" Sandstorm belts out a long string... unfortunately it's all reduced to BEEEP BEEEP BEEEP BEEEP... followed by, "Who the BEEPBEEPBEEP turned the auto-filter on?!" Kup says, "Are you saying you got an alien warrior woman's number at the Olympics, Impactor?" Noah Wolfe says, "Wow." <> Jayson snaps. He goes quiet, then, though only for a moment as he watches in horror as the bomb drops. "OH HELL!" He dodges to the side to avoid Fusillade's laser, but before he can make another move, Boomslang suddenly nails him. "ARGH!" Shards of metal and technology break off inside the exo unit, giving Jayson several deep cuts and gashes, and the Starknight itself is in bad condition as pieces of armor come loose. "Get the damned hell away from me!" he screams at Boomslang, absolutely livid at the situation. He fires. Combat: Exo-Suit Starknight strikes Boomslang with its Medium Laser attack! Impactor says, "I uhm.. well, you see.. ah hell, slag it. You all are always goin' on about fosterin' closer ties to our allies, ain't ya?" Veritech Spacefighter continues to tumble adrift, a smoking battered wreck at this point now that enough of the smoke and dislodged debris is clear enough to see him.... on the bright side, the course of his adrift movement brings him past to the other side of the Steelhaven, so he's at least out of the direct line of fire before someone decides to come shoot his chassis up more. Kup says, "Uh huuuuuh. Well, call her up, man!" Exo-Jet Apollo Jet is rattled by concussion of the nearby explosion from Catechism's missile (etremely near, enough so that the Apollo is caught fully in the blast radius) The Exo spins out of control for an instant, but inside James manipulates thrust and attitude controls expertly. The Exo-Jet rolls, rights itself, and gets back on course. Just in time for Cyclonus to clip off a wingtip. Grimacing, James calls up a tactical screen showing the positions of each of the space-going Decepticons. "Gotta give them something else to chew on," he grates out. From Exo-Jet Apollo , Combat: James Bailey has created a grenade: "Apollo's Missile Reserves"! Combat: Exo-Jet Apollo Jet misses Starfighter with Apollo's Missile Reserves's What Missiles Do Best Area attack! Combat: Exo-Jet Apollo Jet strikes F-35B "Lightning II" with Apollo's Missile Reserves's What Missiles Do Best Area attack! Combat: Exo-Jet Apollo Jet strikes Boomslang with Apollo's Missile Reserves's What Missiles Do Best Area attack! James Bailey says, "Steelhaven, I don't know how much longer the kid and I can keep this up." The casted shadow upon the Steelhaven only continues to grow as the Hellbender approaches ever closer, prompting the crewman manning the Autobot cruiser's sensor station to report out, "Hellbender on an approach vector, sir! Distance 80 pbs and closing!" What exactly is a pb? Something Fortress Maximus' player made up on the fly! Clearly Cybertronians don't use the same method of measurements as humans. Anyways, Fortress Maximus leans forward on his captain's chair and issues yet another order to the helmsman seated in front of him, "They're trying to make their shots count... but from this angle and velocity?" There's a quick pause as Fortress Maximus and Galen debates internally at this questionable move, in the end they make the assumption that the person in charge of the Hellbender might be a bit green to increase speed this close. "Helm! Adjust roll to 245 degrees and raise pitch by 37 degrees after coming about, our shields can't withstand another full impact like that." The command deck shudders as the Steelhaven follows through Fortress Maximus' orders and turns about away from the Hellbender, putting more distance between the two starships. A bridge crew behind the sensor station announces in a horrified tone, "Sir! Sensors detects that Fusillade has deployed her payload! It's... it's... a NEGA-CORE BOMB, SIR!" Cue in multiple black and white shots of horrified expression of the Steelhaven's command deck's crew, including Fortress Maximus. Dun dun duuuuuun! The Headmaster leader finally snaps out of it and barks out, "Open communications channel!" before keying in a few buttons on his armrests. He then leans towards the direction of the tactical station and orders, "Keep maintaining fire on the Decepticon Seekers, the Hellbender is going to be the last of our worries. Helm! Take us back towards the EDC soldiers, we're pulling them out!" Combat: Autobot Heavy Cruiser misses Starfighter with its Point-Defense Lasers Area attack! -5 Combat: Autobot Heavy Cruiser strikes F-35B "Lightning II" with its Point-Defense Lasers Area attack! -5 Jayson Redfield sounds both livid and frantic at the same time. "The bomb...that...that BOMB!" Fortress Maximus says, "Acknowledged, get back to us immediately. There's nothing more we can do here for now." As Repugnus comes right for him, jaws agape, Astrotrain raises both hands and meets the Monsterbot head-on, a harsh *CRASH* of metal on metal splitting the air, followed by the telltale creak of servos and hydraulics struggling against one another. With one hand braced on Repugnus' head, the other gripped around one of his 'wrists' as he holds him back at arm's length, glaring at him face to face. "You know..." the triplechanger grunts, shifting one big, blocky foot for better leverage, "...if you wasn't an Autobot, I could almost -like- you just a teensy bit. Yer crazy, and I can respect that. So I'll tell ya what. Let's you and me....have a CRAZY-OFF!" He abruptly lets go, ducking low and letting Repugnus' jaws snap shut on empty air. As he ducks, Astrotrain puts his shoulder into the Monster's gut and push him across the entire room to the far wall, smashing into it and suddenly straightening up as he starts to throw punch after punch after punch at Repugnus' repulsive face. "C'mon let's do it! Don't it feel good? EH? To just cut loose and LET. IT. GO!?" Boomslang does not, of course, hear Jayson yelling at him since there is no sound in space. And he's kilometers away shooting through a hatch on a spaceship watching Jayson's vehicle through a telescope. In fact he has no idea who's even inside the Starknight. But, if circumstances were wholly different, he would presumably be provoked. As it is he just picks up the tripod, ducks back inside the airlock as the usual barrage of countersniper fire comes his way, and is immediately lost to view again while he goes to find another airlock. //Getting a lot of heat. Gotta displace. I'll be back on target in two shakes.// Combat: Boomslang activates his cloaking field and vanishes from sight! James Bailey says, "Kid, I don't like it any more than you do...but there's enough Decepticon firepower out here to blow us out of space. Twice." <> Stockpile replies over the PA system, having gained control in the bridge. An ordinary yellow coneheaded Seeker, specializing in weapons engineering and distribution of all things, got the lot back to working order. Everyone is back in their seats, doing their jobs.. just as if Galvatron himself was lording the power over them. Pulling out of the descent, the Hellbender pulls up and adjusts power to thrusters.. coming to bear down on the Space Lancer. Cargo bay doors open up, offering her an opportunity to land.. meanwhile the pit crew hang by strapped harnasses, firing off a barrage of small arms fire. Combat: Decepticon Heavy Warship Hellbender misses Exo-Suit Starknight with its Gumby Phalanx Barrage! attack! -6 <> Fusillade pulls away from Jayson's suit to escort the nearly thirty-foot long superweapon to the planet's surface. <> She begins a full engine burn toward the open bay of the Hellbender. An appropriately ugly name, Nega-Core, for an ugly weapon, one meant to negate the atomic forces between nucleus and electron shell. At approximately 100 feet from the mountain's surface and over 60 clicks below the rampaging space battle, a flatline from the detonator chimes out. A snu-snu bird, rapt in his ridiculous throat-fanning moonwalk courtship display, detonates in glittering iridescence as its electrons are stripped away at speeds approaching a fraction of that of light. The slower moving protons repel each other, indiscriminately shredding and mixing shaggy Femaxian man-beast, scythe-toothed predators, emerald-veined fronds, mountainside, and atmosphere to their core atoms within its blast zone. The shockwave ripples out in a conductive, electromagnetic plasma storm, lightning and St. Elmo's fire dancing around the tips of trees not immediately consumed by the infernos ignited at the detonation's periphery. The haze begins to clear some as the ejecta and heavier elements begin to settle, coating the crater with silvery grey powder, revealing a caldera where there was once a mountaintop, and the faint gleam of an exposed underground city! Repugnus says, "Man, if I wasn't fighting this guy, I'd get out my Kazoo and play Taps." It's an easy task to roll to the right just a couple of mere feet, evading the blast from the Steelhaven. Cyclonus grows tired of this back and forth game, his nuclear powered engines work overtime to feed him the burn he requires.. lining up James' Apollo exo suit in his sights. <> Cyclonus emits, building up more thrust and shortening the distance between himself and James. <> Combat: Starfighter misses Exo-Jet Apollo Jet with his Full Speed Ahead! attack! Fortress Maximus says, "We're going to need Astrotrain under control soon, or at least away from the hangar bay when we swing by to pick up those three, Repugnus. How's the situation down there?" Repugnus says, "Sir, he has broken free of my hug, and is massaging my face. Not to worry, though, the day is young and all that." Arcee says, "I'm not sure the Femaxians even have ansible radios." Fortress Maximus says, "...carry on. Security teams head over to reinforce Repugnus, we need that Triplechanger OUT of here." "Crazy-off, huh?" Repugnus says, even as he struggles to bite and claw his opponent. "You're on!" The entire ship rattles as he is slammed into the bulkhead by his opponent, denting it inwards. The Monsterbot does not cry in pain from the blow, nor does he protest at the rain of punches on his face. He just keeps grinning. "HAHAHA, come on, HIT ME! You call that a punch!? Femmebot! FEMMEBOT!!! FEMMEBOT!!!" Ah, but Repugnus isn't just taking the punches for no reason. As Astrotrain takes another swing, Repugnus suddenly reverts to his robot mode, and shoves his venom laser under Astrotrain's chin. "Heehhhh. Gotcha." BZZAATTT Fortress Maximus says, "James, Jayson, we're en route to your position now. Can either of you see if you can grab Jetfire on your way back in?" Repugnus says, "Use a smoke signal!" Exo-Suit Starknight speeds off before the bomb explodes, Jayson not wanting to get caught in the explosion, though he was probably safe from it to begin with. He's not going to take any chances. He attempts to rendezvous with James, though his thoughts are clouded at the moment due to shock from the events. His anger seems to have deserted him, only to be replaced with stunned sorrow. <> Autobot Heavy Cruiser completes its long turn about towards the direction of James and Jayson, with Femax sitting brightly in the background. The Autobot cruiser's launch pad extends outwards again as the crew begins procedures to retrieve the two EDC soldiers in space. Meanwhile in the command deck, Fortress Maximus finally has enough of his ship being torn apart from the inside out. He looks over to the next ranking Steelhaven bridge crew and firmly says, "You've got the bridge. Get them back, get them all back, and take us over to the opposite end of the planet. Relay what has happened in detail to Cybertron and then see if we can raise any means of communication to the inhabitants down there." Soon the Headmaster leader disappears through the bridge doors with a stern expression worn across his face. He ain't pleased about many things at the moment. Combat: Autobot Heavy Cruiser sets its defense level to Protected. Combat: Autobot Heavy Cruiser takes extra time to steady itself. Pass James Bailey says, "We'll do what we can Steelhaven. Hear that Kid? Try to grab that end." Jayson Redfield says, "S-sure thing." Veritech Spacefighter 's drift has probably taken him close enough that now that the Steelhaven is oriented right, a good push or two is all that would be needed to make him float into the open hatch. Good thing his bulk is weightless in space! Exo-Jet Apollo Jet flips upside down and rockets away, leaving Cyclonus momentarily behind as it streaks inverted towards Jetfire's last known position somewhere 'below'. it veers back and forth, trying to make himself a more difficult target, and then when he reaches the inert Autobot spacer James triggers the configuration controls, sending his Exo into it's simulated robot mode. Grabbing onto Jetfire carefully, it fires jets in short controlled bursts, trying to overcome the inertia of the much more massive Autobot and help him along towarsd the Steelhaven. Combat: Exo-Jet Apollo Jet sets its defense level to Protected. Combat: Exo-Jet Apollo Jet begins retreating, leaving itself vulnerable to parting shots from Starfighter and F-35B "Lightning II" Often times, Astrotrain doesn't even really think so much as just react. Blame it on Shockwave's messing around with his design all those many years ago that turned him into a triplechanger, or blame it on the experience he's built up since then. He doesn't think, he just -acts-, and when the barrel of the venom gun rises up under his chin, he does just that. Seizing a hand around Repugnus' own, he twists the weapon to one side, so when it goes off, it fires straight upwards and into the ceiling. "HAH! Nice try!" A bit of metal sheers off from the ceiling, and proceeds to drop straight down on Astrotrain's head. *CLANG!* Little birds fly about his head in quick circles, as he staggers back a bit, reaching up to place both hands on the top of his dome and get the sudden stars out of his vision. Still reacting semi on instinct, and semi out of fury, he reaches forward and shoves Repugnus again, back into the indent in the wall, and again through to the other side with a sudden shearing of metal. This time they emerge into what looks to be an engineering station of some sort that border the outer hull of the ship, given that there's an airlock here as well. It'll be interesting to note that when this is all said and done, the technicians will have any easy time telling just where the fight took place. All they have to do is keep following all the Astrotrain/Repugnus sized holes in the walls and floor/ceiling that follow a clear trail of destruction through the ship. No sooner has Astrotrain stepped through than he lunges in a half-spin and moves to deliver a big blocky foot right into Repugnus' midriff again with frightening force behind it. "See I don't -mind- if you keep smiling, laughin and lovin it, cause I got no problems scrapping ya with a smile on yer face the whole time!" Swooping back around, Cyclonus barely even notes the human's retreat from battle.. grabbing up the space debris aka Jetifre, along with them. <> the Overlord transmits to the Hellbender's PA systems. Putting himself between the Autobots and any Decepticons still navigating the nebula, he transforms into robot mode. Floating aimlessly, small bursts from his boot thrusters keep him aloft and from drifting away. <> Cyclonus transmits on the open frequency to the Steelhaven and it's crew. The Starfighter flips up, transforming into CYCLONUS! Combat: Cyclonus sets his defense level to Neutral. Combat: Cyclonus inspires F-35B "Lightning II" , Boomslang, and Space-Going B-1R Lancer with majestic and noble words! //Roger, battle not yet done, tiny fraction of desolation,// Boomslang sends back in acknowledgement while he carries his rifle and tripod through the ship, jogging through corridors in case he needs to find another airlock to shoot out of. Combat: Boomslang takes extra time to steady himself. Pass Cyclonus totally broadcasted that to the Hellbender and it's PA system. ;) F-35B "Lightning II" is blasted by the Steelhaven /again/. She's getting sick of it, really. It tears off one of her space manuevering jets. She limps on back to the Hellbender, the carrier ship, to go see Krunix the rather shady delusional medic and see about her wounds, though after that speech, she could probably go another ten rounds, she's sure! Combat: F-35B "Lightning II" begins retreating, outrunning all pursuit. Slapping down in the cargo hold, Fusillade hmms at Cyclonus's words, even as she queasily huddles into a small ball on the bay's floor. <> She stands back up, and begins to hobble to the repair bay. However, the Hellbender still presses it's advantage.. firing off two lancing beams that streak past either side of Cyclonus. The super charged lancers of plasma head for the Steelhaven, and it's cargo bay doors. Combat: Decepticon Heavy Warship Hellbender misses Autobot Heavy Cruiser with its Now Get! (Laser) attack! Impactor says, "No answer on Barkida, how bad is tha damage?" Repugnus is shoved right through yet another wall, and drops his venom laser in Astrotrain's wake. The boot slams into his gut and hurls Repugnus through the room and right into the forcefield protecting the Steelhaven's FTL drive, and technician gumbies scatter in every direction, yelling and screaming. "Autobot!" one of the gumbies cries, running up to Repugnus. "You can't fight in here, it's too dangerous!" "Hrmph," Repugnus grunts, rising up from the floor. "Sure I can, and you're gonna help me!" Then, he grabs the gumby, lifts him over his head, and TOSSES him at Astrotrain. Repugnus isn't far behind, grinning maniacally, charging at both gumby and triple-changer and trying to knock them both to the floor. Should he succeed, Repugnus will then rip a chair out of the floor and slam its post into Astrotrain's face over and over and over. "Heheheh, see how you like it on the receiving end, buddy!" The gumby, meanwhile, screams and tries to crawl away before something *crazier* happens. The rest of the gumbies, meanwhile, stop panicking for a moment, and watch, transfixed with horror, at Repugnus's brutality. Exo-Suit Starknight goes to help James with Jetfire. Go him. Oh, and he's technically fleeing. So yeah. Combat: Exo-Suit Starknight begins retreating, leaving itself vulnerable to parting shots from Exo-Jet Apollo Jet, F-35B "Lightning II" , Autobot Heavy Cruiser , and Decepticon Heavy Warship Hellbender With the help of the two exos, Jetfire is pushed into the open bay... and thuds rather unceremoniously to the hard steel deck once he's within it's artificial gravity field. *WHAM* It's a good thing he's already unconcious and beaten up, or that would of really hurt. Fortress Maximus walks through the thorouhgly trashed corridors of the Steelhaven, the chaos left in the wake of the Autobot he had sent to subdue the Decepticon invader makes it easy for him to retrace the path that the two might've taken. There's a hint of regret behind the large Headmaster leader's visored optics as he surveys the damage throughout his cruiser, yep, it definitely wasn't the smartest idea sending Repugnus after Astrotrain. Perhaps this will teach him to be vigiliant in reading up on the personality profile of new personnel in the future? Thankfully, the experienced technician crew of the Steelhaven is already in the process of patching up some of the corridors, albit it's a rough job given the circumstances at the moment. Eventually Fortress Maximus finds himself in one of Steelhaven's auxillary engineering stations, which is where the path of destruction seemingly ends for now. The door in front of the Headmaster leader parts away, allowing him to step in and witness Astrotrain and Repugnus still in the middle of beating each other silly. However ironically enough, it's only after Repugnus does something as unexpected as blatantly disregarding other Autobot safety -and- using a non-combatant as a weapon, that finally sends Fortress Maximus over the top. With a speed that belies what is expected of someone of his bulk, Fortress Maximus charges the two combatants and shouts out angrily first to Astrotrain, "YOU! Get off my ship." and then to Repugnus, "And you. I'll deal with you later." The Headmaster leader attempts to grab onto the triplechanger, with the intent on hurling him through the airlock that'll be conveniently opened by the Autobot gumbies nearby if successful. "Wait, what?" Astrotrain states in a bit of surprise as the Autobot gumby is hurled in his direction, reaching out to catch the flailing figure...by the neck, no less. "Autobots aint supposed to..." And it's a perfect distraction as he gives out an audible, "WHOOOF!" as Repugnus crashes into his midriff, sending him sprawling to the floor in short order. No sooner has he started to sit up again than he's suddenly under a chair-based assault to the face, raising one arm to shield his optics, "Gwah! Ow! Hey, why you little...I'm gonna...CUT THAT OUT!" His battered forearm suddenly blurrs in motion as he grabs onto the metal 'post' from the now smashed chair, yanking it from the Monsterbot's grip. "MINE!" And then, along comes Fortress Maximus, his huge form lumbering in and prompting the triplechanger to suddenly kick off from Repugnus and roll away in a brief moment of panic. "YEEK!" Astrotrain gets to his feet suddenly then, holding the metal 'rod' in front of him as he finally registers just who this is before him, and a look of comprehension crosses his features. "Oh, OH PERFECT!" He exclaims gleefully. "I've been -waiting- to get another chance at you!" He suddenly hurls the improvised 'weapon' away and behind him again, as if he doesn't feel he needs it. "I was hoping I was gonna get a chance to finish it again. THIS time I'm gonna pull that squishy little thing you call a head off your shoulders and crush it into pulp!" Actually he's not going to be doing any of that right now, because the metal rod from the chair that he threw away? It actually hit the control panel for the airlock. Dead-center in fact. A brief warning klaxon fills the air, and some of the engineer gumbies in the room shout out, "HOLD ON TO SOMETHING!" And Astrotrain may react quickly in body, but he doesn't always react quickly in mind, as the airlock suddenly slams open and the entire engineering area depressurizes in the time it takes to blink. "Huh? What's that m....YEEEEEEEERK!" **Outside the Steelhaven, a single humanoid figure suddenly ejects out a tiny open airlock, spinning head over heels and fist shaking for good measure!* Arms crossed in front of him, even the Hellbender's gunner accuracy doesn't put a damper on Cyclonus' elated state of constant nastiness. So he's only slightly less pissy now, apparently. Turning away from the Steelhaven, something catches his notice out the corner of his optic. "Is that Astrotrain?" Repugnus grins as Astrotrain is sucked out, and is a little quicker to react! He transforms into creature mode, and sinks his claws into the floor, preventing himself from flying out into space. "Hey, you wanted somebody to deal with the intruder, sir," Repugnus says. "You just didn't say *how.*" Decepticon Shuttle transforms a short time later to get himself righted again, thrusters igniting like brilliant starlights as he performs a sudden series of high-speed jinks and weaves to get away from the Steelhaven before the point defense gunners wake up! He's soon setting a course back towards the Decepticon forces. The Steelhaven continues to beat a hasty retreat from the area now that all of the units it had deployed earlier are safely onboard. Sadly while the ship looks pristine on the outside, it hides the fact that its interiors had been ravaged due to the efforts of a stubbornly tough triplechanger and his insane Autobot opponent! The Autobot cruiser yaws towards the right as it takes advantage of Femax's gravitational pull and engages full engines, propelling the starship out of the path of the Hellbender's fire as it proceeds towards the opposite side of Femax! Meanwhile inside the Steelhaven, the sudden decompression threatens to suck Fortress Maximus out, seeing as he's the next person closest to the airlock! It's only thanks to his titanic grip that Fortress Maximus had managed to place on the side of the bulkhead that keeps the Headmaster leader from suffering the same fate as Astrotrain. Luckily the ordeal ends shortly as an Autobot gumby manages to fiddle with the airlock controls and shut off the hatch. Eventually Fortress Maximus gets up to his feet and looks down at Repugnus, displeased but unable to dispute the technicality that the Autobot offered in his defense, "Make sure you don't endanger my crew in the future, is that understood?" Combat: Autobot Heavy Cruiser begins retreating, leaving itself vulnerable to parting shots from F-35B "Lightning II" and Decepticon Shuttle Fortress Maximus says, "We'll send down teams to Femax to make contact with the Femaxians and survey the damage, but first we need to get these Decepticons off our tail." Cyclonus transforms, rocketing away towards the Hellbender's cargo bay doors and the ship itself.. keeping in mind to have the gunner's sights checked over. Once aboard, the Decepticon Overlord keeps to himself mainly. Making his way to the bridge and directing the craft to break Femax's orbit. "The planet.. is ours." he softly intones to himself, reclined back in the throne of the warship. Repugnus's grin lessens in intensity as he pulls himself out of the floor. "Understood... sir." Whether or not he'll respect Maximus's wishes, however, is another matter entirely. Then he transforms, and pulls out... a kazoo? Repugnus says, "Well. Now that we have a moment, I believe it is time to pay our respects to those who gave their lives for freedom on Femax. *begins playing Taps with a Kazoo*" Jayson Redfield says, "Ugh..." Jetfire has nothing to add, still being unconcious and all Fortress Maximus says, "Stand down to alert status 2 for the time being. We've got a lot of the ship to repair. I'll go and see if I can lend a hand with the injured."